Síguenos en

The Guardian Weekly: Field schools help farmers take root again

'Gifts' from the UN are being used to rebuild Uganda's rural economy

Florence Ogwal is grateful for her "gift". Since a ceasefire between the Ugandan government and the rebel Lord's Resistance Army more than two years ago, her village in northern Uganda has received agricultural training, seeds and tools from the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to revive farming in an area devastated by rebel attacks.

"We are most pleased that we got threshers for handling our rice harvest and we have also got an irrigation system," says Ogwal, who comes from the village of Agebo in Dokolo district, where she is treasurer of Acan Pi Ocan (Poorest of the Poor), a field school for farmers. The aid has been channelled through the school, which has one family member from each of the 30 households in the village.